PANAMA CITY BEACH — Spring Break hits the school district next week and a group of people are making sure students are still fed.
“When there is an extended break from school we have kids that don’t eat because they depend on school breakfast and lunch,” said Alicia Bailie, co-founder of Angels4Angels.
Angels4Education, a non-profit organization, partnered with Baypointe Church, and other ministries, to collect and pack about 200 bags with snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner food items at Hutchison Beach Elementary Wednesday evening. The mission of Angels4Education is to ensure that all Beach kids have the resources they need to get a quality education.
A variety of items — from cereal bars and Chef Boyardee quick meals to fresh fruit — towered across several cafeteria tables at the school. Each person grabbed a cloth recyclable bag and snaked between the tables to stuff bags with nine days worth of food.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect this many people and this many food items would be here,” said Cadence Liles, 11.
The number of children on the beach that go without meals is an issue that’s too often overlooked, Bailie said.
“If school is not meeting, they don’t eat,” she said. “The fact that everyone came together to meet this goal for these kids (shows) we’ve got a great community on the beach that loves these kids.”
